Confectionery - sugar 2024: sour flavours soften blow for sweets

There’s no point sugar-coating it: the extra £163.7m gummies, toffees, mints and the like have put through tills is chiefly down to rocketing prices. Retailers have sold 2.1 million fewer kilos of candy.

Still, it could be worse. “Sugarconfectionery is growing faster than other impulse categories and the total market across spend, buyers, penetration and frequency,” says Perfetti Van Melle (PVM) trade marketing controller Derek Baker. “This is widely driven by activations in-store across seasonal, NPD and branded bays.”

Indeed, chocolate has suffered a volume decline in percentage terms more than three times greater than sweets. While Wispa was the only top 10 choccie brand to sell more kilos, four of the top 10 candy brands have achieved volume growth. That’s Haribo, Sour Patch Kids, Mentos and Drumstick. 

In absolute terms, market leader Haribo has grown most, shifting an extra 1.2 million kilos of gums and jellies. This 3.6% rise was “driven by distribution gains and promotions”, says Hamza Arshad Malik, NIQ analytics executive. “NPD during key seasons such as Halloween and Christmas also helped Haribo accelerate growth.”

As growth drivers over Halloween, the brand points to the success of its Sour Skeletons, Monster Zing and Trick Or Treat multipacks – backed by its ‘Monster Approved’ campaign.

Innovation has had a hand in growing sales, too. Haribo Soda Twist Zing, added in July, was the bestselling sugar confectionery innovation of 2024, says the brand.

“We’ve seen a strong performance against our iconic core range, with Tangfastics number one closely followed by Starmix, the number two, bestselling sweets products,” adds Haribo UK MD Jon Hughes. “In fact, Haribo products make up seven of the top 15 selling products by format this year.”

That Tangfastics is still a winner is no surprise, as sour flavours continue to hit the spot for shoppers. In similar vein Sour Patch Kids entered candy’s top 10 on value growth of 65.7%. It’s sold an extra 825.7 thousand kilos – a rise of 32.7%. Strong demand for sour flavours prompted the July launch of a fifth Sour Patch Kids variant: Strawberry. 

Susan Nash, trade communications manager at brand owner Mondelez   says “Gen Z and younger millennial shoppers are showing a clear interest in something new within sour sweets. Sour Patch Kids Strawberry is ideally placed to tap into this clear demand with something new and tantalisingly sour, and has seen strong sales and high repeat purchase since launch.”

Not all success in sugar confectionery has been predicated on flavours to make your eyes water, mind you. Mentos, with its focus on “freshness”, has scored the third-greatest absolute volume gain in the top 10. It’s shifted an extra 389.6 thousand kilos, driving up value sales 27.5%. “Some of this growth can be attributed to our biggest launch of the year, Mentos Discovery, the category-first 14-flavour product,” says PVM’s Baker. 

“Supported with a £2.2m marketing campaign, it’s been a big driver in positioning us as at the forefront of creativity within confectionery. We’ve also seen our Pouch Fruit Mix and Fanta bags perform very well.” 

Innovation has also helped drive growth for Drumstick, too. It’s up 14.5% in value on volumes up 2%. June saw the launch of Drumstick Raspberry & Milk Marvellous Mallows as an 18g bar. The move was inspired by growing demand for candy countlines, says brand owner Swizzels Matlow. 

Larger sharing packs are also in growth across the category. “Fruity confectionery was once a product that was generally enjoyed by an individual, but with the rise in popularity of bite-sized packs, we are seeing more people enjoy it as part of treating and sharing occasions,” says Daniel Wright, Mars Wrigley category strategy leader. 

Tough competition

Pushing countlines and larger packs hasn’t been enough to give brands the edge over own label, however. “Rising prices continue to drive the growth of the category, with a 10.6% increase in price per kilo and cheaper private label alternatives continuing to outpace brands,” says NIQ’s Malik. He points to own label’s 10.9% value and 0.5% volume rises. For comparison, branded value sales are up 9.2% and volumes are down 1.5%. 

Rowntree’s has been the biggest casualty in absolute terms. It’s shed £5.1m and 2.7 million kilos. “Declining sales per point of distribution is driving the losses for Rowntree’s, which is a culmination of a high increase in price per kilo and strong performances from direct competitor Haribo,” Malik says. 

Plus, challengers are stealing share. Bebeto has grown value 37.3% on volumes up 44.8%. Bazooka and Nerds are also in strong growth. They’ve added a combined £9.3m and 487.9 thousand kilos.

“The UK sugar confectionery market is probably the most competitive in the world. Every global manufacturer who plays in sugar candy is present and well developed here,” says Kevin Massie, UK general manager for Nerds owner Ferrara Candy.

“Therefore, we’re very proud we have been able to disrupt the status quo and deliver a truly unique candy proposition. UK candy consumers continue to yearn for a product that is different from traditional sugar confectionery, propositions that deliver multi-sensory experiences and excitement.” 

Gum, which has seen volumes dip 0.4%, is also ripe for disruption, suggests Malik.  “Mars Wrigley’s brands continue to account for more than 90% of the value of the UK market, with innovation particularly within Extra helping them assert dominance,” he says. 

In fact, the February launch of Extra Sugar-Free Watermelon helped drive 7.1% value growth for the market leader, while volumes remained flat. But number two and three brands Airwaves and Mentos suffered respective volume losses of 6.2% and 2.6%.

That’ll give them something to chew on in the year ahead. 

Read more: Confectionery - sugar 2023: HFSS rules keep candy on its toes